Stephanie McCullough is founder of Sofia Financial and co-host of the award-winning Take Back Retirement podcast. One of Investopedia's Top 10 Financial Advisors of 2023, Stephanie provides non-judgmental, truly holistic financial planning for professional women. She has found that women “of a certain age” are faced with a particular set of problems around the goal of retirement, especially those facing it on their own. Her mission is to empower women to make wise financial decisions so they can control their future, and thus she speaks to women’s groups regularly. Stephanie is married with two kids in their 20’s, and has degrees from Duke University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Follow Stephanie @sofiafinancial and www.sofiafinancial.com.
Sofia Financial Insights - December 2023
I'VE BEEN PONDERING
Most of you know I served on a Federal Grand Jury for 18 months. Every other Thursday my fellow citizens and I found our way to a windowless room in the courthouse on 9th and Market in Philadelphia, to hear overviews from Assistant US Attorneys and testimony from witnesses, and to vote on whether or not to indict. Some cases were done in an hour; some took many months. It was a fascinating (if time consuming) look into our justice system.
Our Grand Jury was assigned to Economic Crimes and Fraud. And boy did we hear some doozies! While I'm not allowed to share details of any of the cases we heard, I feel compelled to encourage you to BE AWARE and on the lookout for scams and fraud. The criminals are out there working to scam us every day. They are well-organized, with teams behind them. It is all too easy to be taken unawares, and to fall victim to these crimes.
Kathy Stokes, Director of Fraud Prevention Programs at AARP, wants everyone to know what she calls the "Fraud Trifecta" -- three features found in most initial contact by the criminals.
When we see these three things, we should be on alert that this could be fraud:
- Unexpected contact
- A message that yields high emotion
- A sense of urgency
Did you ever hear about the grandkid scam? Grandparents get a message out of the blue (unexpected contact), supposedly from a grandson who is in jail in a foreign country (heightened emotion), and needs $10,000 for bail right away (sense of urgency). Americans have lost millions of dollars to this scam alone - and and estimated $10 billion per year to scams overall. Which is why Kathy wants to spread the word about the three red flags of fraud.
AARP's Fraud Watch Network has a wealth of helpful resources, a great newsletter, and even a podcast that aim to keep us aware and thus less vulnerable. They also have a fraud support program if you or someone you know has been a victim -- call 877-908-3360.
Also, I strongly endorse Kathy Stokes' plea that we need stop blaming the victims of fraud (click link for a video on this). Headlines focus on the victim, while the crime itself and the criminals are invisible. Blaming a relative who was targeted by scammers can tear a family apart.
Let's help change that narrative, talk about it more openly, and keep each other safe!
TIMELY TOPICS
Are you feeling nervous about investing these days? Have you read some frightening news that makes you think the markets are for sure about to plummet? The thing is, there's always scary news, and there's always someone foretelling a terrible downturn in the markets - but it actually rarely happens!
This article from Ben Carlson points out one particular doomsayer who's been wrong many more times than he has been right. He shares a bunch of stats to come to this conclusion:
"Most of the time good things happen in the markets but sometimes bad things happen.
The people who predict a crash every single year will be “right” eventually.
But they will be wrong the majority of the time."
RECENT/UPCOMING SIGHTINGS
- Investopedia interviewed women advisors in their Top 100 on our advice for women investors.
- I got to go back to my beloved alma mater, Duke University, to speak with two different student groups about personal finances and financial planning as a career.
- We've had some juicy episodes on the podcast recently, including going deep on strategies for Solo Aging, the hazards and best practices around Financial Recordkeeping, and the importance of Self-Care to your finances.
- Kevin and I were guests on the most recent episode of Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads podcast. Hear more about each of our back stories!
Let's Connect!
Are you a podcast listener? What are your favorites? Please reply to this email and let me know!
Stephanie McCullough, Financial Planner, Speaker and Podcaster
Monthly Insights for Women
Stephanie McCullough is founder of Sofia Financial and co-host of the award-winning Take Back Retirement podcast. One of Investopedia's Top 10 Financial Advisors of 2023, Stephanie provides non-judgmental, truly holistic financial planning for professional women. She has found that women “of a certain age” are faced with a particular set of problems around the goal of retirement, especially those facing it on their own. Her mission is to empower women to make wise financial decisions so they can control their future, and thus she speaks to women’s groups regularly. Stephanie is married with two kids in their 20’s, and has degrees from Duke University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Follow Stephanie @sofiafinancial and www.sofiafinancial.com.
“THE ACQUISITION OF MEMORIES” They say that a checkbook and a calendar never lie. If that's true, and I believe it is, then we should occasionally ask ourselves an important question: If an impartial observer tallied up how you spend your time and money, what would they say is important to you? While I'm certainly hopeful they'd say that you spend your time and money in complete alignment with what's most important to you, I'm guessing most of us would feel that we could do a bit better. I...
I'VE BEEN PONDERING With the stock market hovering around all-time highs again (see 2023 returns below), it's natural to wonder what's next. Will the market continue to climb, or will we experience yet another decline? If we follow the constant doom and gloom headlines, we're likely to believe that it will be the latter. Of course, the truth is that nobody knows, which of course offers no comfort whatsoever. But negative headlines are a dime a dozen no matter where the market stands at any...
I'VE BEEN PONDERING Have you thought about the day you may no longer be fit to look after your own finances? A friend pointed me to this recent New York Times article about that conundrum. (This is a "gift" link which should give you full access to the article, even without a subscription.) I was delighted to find it features a financial planner whom Janice and I happen to know, Elliott Appel. He went through his own journey when his father started showing signs of impairment. The article...